Stomach Book
by BlackenedBreath
Summary: Ritsuko Aki. A girl obsessed with the written word. Finds herself with a cat, a dead thief, and a blood stained book. The cat offers her a deal: Kill to read the most amazing books. Based on the UTAU song Stomach Book. M rating for gore in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Based on the song Stomach Book sung by Ritsu Namine.**

**I own nothing except the story.**

I Ritsuko Aki, loved books. I always did. People rarely saw me without one in my hands. Today was no different. I was walking through the run down part of town with both umbrella, and book in hand since it was raining, and was trying to get to the city library when a boy similar in age stopped me to ask for directions. " Um excuse me Miss. Do you know how to get to the cafe from here?" He asked. "Oh it's just two blocks to the left" I replied. "Thank you so much" He went to shake both my hands. Both my umbrella, and my book is dropped in the process. "Hey! Back off a bit" I exclaimed. "Oh I'm sorry. Let me get that for you" He reached down, and grabbed the book. I hoped that the book isn't too damaged. It's a signed collectors edition.

"thank you. Now please give it back to me" I said, feeling a little bit annoyed. "This looks like a pretty expensive book. It would be a shame if I damaged it somehow" "Yes it is. Now give it back" "You know what...I think I'll keep it" Right after he said this he pushed me on to the ground, and ran off. "Hey!" I yelled. I quickly got up, and ran after him, leaving my umbrella behind. It was hard to catch up to him. Since the rain made it harder to see through my glasses, But I eventually closer to him. He went into one of the abandoned buildings in hopes of losing me. I followed, but the water caused by the rain made me slip, and crash into a nearby wall.

"Ack" I muttered. I shouldn't have ran so fast. I stood up trying to catch my breath. "I...have to...get my book back" I said aloud. "No matter...what" Why would people even steal books anyway? He should just buy his own. I started walking, and trying to search for him. He can't be far.

That's when I heard a bloodcurdling scream. I jumped a little out of shock. That sounded like...the book thief! I have to go help him. Even though he stole something of mine I wouldn't want something horrid happen to him, or something. That would be immoral. It sounded like it came from downstairs, so I went down one of the hallways, and down the flight of stairs.

Blood. So much blood, and his insides are spilling out onto the floor. I gasp at the sight of it all. Why? Who killed him? "Hello there" sounded an echoing female voice. "Who...who are you? Where are you?" I exclaimed. Feeling a little freaked out. "I'm the cat you seem to be ignoring" she replied back. Oh. There was a cat here. A blue exotic looking cat a couple of feet away from the dead body. Right next to it was a blood stained book that does not look like my book. "You're the cat? But that's...not possible". "Well it seems like the impossible just became possible, besides who else would be talking to you?" "You have a point, but how are you talking to me?" I asked. "telepathy" she answered plainly. "Oh. Who killed him?" "No one you need to worry about at this point" "Where's my book?" I asked as well. I still need to get it back. "Over there in the corner" she said as she pointed her tail to the spot.

I walked over there, and grabbed it. Relieved to find it not too damaged. Now that that's over with I walk towards the cat, and the bloody book. "What's with this book?" I said as I picked it up, and sat down. "It is his stomach book" she replied. "Stomach book?" I said with a confused look, and began to read it. "What's there to get confused about? It's a book that was inside his stomach". I was too engrossed in the book to reply, it's surprisingly good. One of the best books I had ever read. "I see you really like that book" she said as she pawed my face to get my attention. "Sorry I'm a little busy here" I said. She sighed, and waited for me to be done.

Once I was done a couple hours had passed. "Oh come on!" I exclaimed. "It ended on a huge cliffhanger!" "Yes I know" "You do? Where can I find the next book?" I demanded. "Why should I tell you? You're probably not even up for the task of getting it" "What? Of course I am. I would be willing to do anything!" "Anything? Anything at all?" "Anything" I said with a determined look on my face. "Even killing for it?" "What? Why would I have to kill for it?" "Well it's a stomach book, so it would make sense for the next one to also be a stomach book" she said calmly. "Oh. I...I see" I said conflicted. Should I? It's immoral, but...

"So, are you willing to do it?" she asked? I gulped, and tried to say in a steady voice. "Yes"


	2. Chapter 2

**I own nothing.**

"Very well" Said the cat. "What you need to do first is get a formidable weapon" "We can go back to my place, and get a knife from my kitchen" I proposed. "How far is it form here?" "Not that far, just a couple blocks" "Aright" She sighed. "But you can't tell _anyone_ about this" "Okay" I replied. 'Of course I'm not going to tell anyone" I thought. 'Does she think I'm stupid, or something?'

As I got up the cat jumped on my shoulders. "Hey. I can just carry you" I said, being a little uncomfortable. "Fine" She replied. Then I went, and grabbed her. "Hey what's your name by the way?" "You can just call me Cat" "Uh...Okay" I started walking upstairs, and back outside. Luckily it looks like it stopped raining by the time I went out. Since I dropped my umbrella earlier.

It was tough holding both the books and Cat at the same time, but I managed. When I finally got to my house. Cat jumped to the floor, and I put both the books on the counter in the kitchen. 'Wow. Am I really going to kill someone? Will I have the guts to do it?' I thought. I was getting pretty nervous. I had never even thought of killing someone before. "Hey, snap out of it" Cat suddenly said. Breaking me out of my stupor. "Haha sorry" Luckily my parents weren't home, or they would have thought I was crazy. I looked and found where the knives were, and grabbed the biggest one I had. "Is this good enough?" "Yeah that'll work" She replied.

"Let's go" Cat said. "Wait, right now? Can't we rest a little first?" "You want to read the next book right?" "Yeah, bu-" "But what? Are you too scared?" "No! I'm not scared!" "Good. Now let's go, oh and you should probably hide the stomach book on the counter somewhere. You wouldn't want anybody finding out now would you" I quickly picked up both books, and rushed to my bedroom. Then I put them both under my pillow. It'll have to do for now. I went back to cat. "Okay, it's done" I said as I grabbed her in one hand, since the knife was in my other hand, and walked outside.

As I was walking I asked her where is the person with the stomach book. "He should be in the ruins in the edge of town" She answered. Conveniently my house is right by it, so I walked in the direction of the ruins. When I got there I put Cat down onto the ground. "So, what now?" I said. "Now all you have to do is find him, also to tell if it's him look for a neon blue tattoo" "Got it" I searched around deeper in the ruins. When I got inside one of the big buildings it was getting close to sunset, and the clouds were clearing up. I looked around, and saw a man in one of the rooms on the second floor, because the wall was collapsed. "Hey!" I exclaimed while I hid my knife behind my back. The man looked at me.

"Oh hello there. Why is such a young girl wondering around here in these ruins?" He said slyly. "I'm seventeen, don't treat me like I'm fourteen" "Right right, my bad, but you didn't answer my question. Why are you here?" "Nothing that you need to know. My turn, do you happen to have a blue tattoo or mark on you?" "Why yes, yes I do" he said while he pulled the collar of his shirt down a bit to show the mark. "Now where did you happen to come across this information?" "Just a lucky guess"

"Hurry it up. We don't have all day Ritsuko" Cat said impatiently. I nodded slightly. The man jumped down to the bottom floor. "Well I don't have all day talking to you, so I'm going to take my leave" "Wait" "What?" "I can't let you leave" I said as I revealed my knife. There's no use hiding it at this point. "Oh. So we're doing this huh, I didn't want to hurt ya baby doll, but you leave me no choice" The moment he said that he charged at me, and grabbed both of my wrists, trying to overpower me. I kneed him in the groin, and he let go of my wrists. Using that opening I pushed him onto the floor, and straddled him. Aiming at his heart I stabbed him. He cried out in pain. I stabbed him again. And again. And again. I started to lose track of how many times I stabbed him in the chest.

"Hey. You can stop now, he's dead" Oh.


	3. Chapter 3

**I own nothing.**

I cleared my mind, and started to think straight again. I got off of him, and made an incision into his stomach. I reached in, and felt around a bit before finding the book, pulling it out of the gross insides of his corpse. I looked at the book, and suddenly the reality of the situation came down on me like a ton of bricks.

'I..I...I just killed a man.' I thought. I suddenly kicked myself back against one of the walls of the ruined building. Gasping for air. That thought was repeating over and over and over again in my mind. 'I just killed a man, I just killed a man, I just killed a man.' A man I didn't even know even. What if someone finds out? They'd throw me into jail wouldn't they?

"Calm down Ritsuko!" Cat snipped, acting annoyed. "You are a fine young woman, and women don't act so panicky!".

She...she's right. I don't have the time of day to be having a panic attack. I slowed my breathing, and changed my sitting into a more comfortable position. 'Maybe reading the book will help.' I thought. Yeah I think it would. Right as I was about to open the book Cat pawed my arm.

"You can read later, first we need to kill one more person. After that, you can go home and rest for the night."

I sighed. Another killing? Do I really have to? "What? Are you not mature enough for it? Now I thought you wanted to read the most amazing books. I guess I was wrong about you dear Ritsuko." She said while starting to walk away.

"Wait!" I shouted. "I can do it, trust me. Just let me drop off this book at my house first."

Cat sighed and said, "Very well then _your highness,_ we'll do things your way."

I stood up, and Cat jumped into my arms. We walked home, and I deposited the Stomach book under the pillows like the others. Then I suddenly heard a car come into the drive way of my family's house. "Oh no!" I whispered. Cat jumped down to the floor. "What is it?" She asked.

"My parents!" I replied. Cat jumped onto the bed, and pointed at the window in my room with her tail. I walked up to the reasonably large window, and opened it. The window is opposite of the driveway so I would be able to go through it without being noticed, but my room is on the second floor so it would be a pretty big jump.

"What are are you doing woman? Jump already! If they see you with a knife in your hands, and your blood stained clothing you're dead! Jump!." Cat shouted.

She's right as always. I grabbed both of the blood stained books and threw them out the window and down to the ground below. There has to be no evidence that I was here. It would be best if I didn't come back. I wouldn't want my parents involved in this. I heard the front door open, and I tried to jump to nearby tree. It kinda work as I was hanging from one of the the low branches with one hand. I put the handle of the knife I was holding in my mouth and let go of the branch.

I landed pretty safely, and I took the knife out of my mouth. Cat jumped down as well. I grabbed the book I didn't read yet, and Cat jumped on my shoulders. I didn't care at this point. I just wanted to get out of there. I bolted as far away as I possibly can.

I slowed down a couple blocks away to catch my breath, and I noticed that Cat was digging her nails into my skin in effort to stay on my body. She looked like she just saw a ghost.

"You didn't have to run so fast like that you know." Cat said annoyed, retracting her claws, and jumping down to the ground. "Well you didn't have to jump onto my shoulders, and claw into my skin." I remarked crudely.

"Oh, whatever. Let's just get to the next target." She sighed "Speaking of which, where is it?".

Cat looked at our surroundings. "Well, it looks like we're in luck! It's right over there." She pointed to a bar on the right with her paw. "It looks pretty populated right now Cat. I don't think I should attack with that much people around."

Cat sighed yet again. "Fine, she's a worker there anyway. We'll wait until right before it closes." We went and hided in an abandoned hotel across from the bar. I read the newest stomach book while I waited. It was even better than the last! It was so good that I was in a state of frisson the whole time.

By the time I was finished it was time to go to the target. I had to get more books. Cat jumped into my arms for me to carry her. We went outside of the hotel, and into the bar. No costumers were there, and only a couple minutes to spare. I hid the knife behind my back while Cat jumped to the floor. The only person there was a short, slightly pudgy woman who worked here. This must be the target.

The woman noticed me and said "Oh hello deary. I'm sorry, but we're just about to close for the night. You can come back tomorrow though!".

"Oh that's alright Miss. I just have one question for you is all. Do you happen to have a neon blue tattoo on you?" I asked as nicely as I can.

"Why yes I do actually! How'd you know? And how come you have some red stains on your clothing? Are you alright?". "Oh I'm just fine, but we can't leave just yet." "Well why not sweetheart?".

"Because, you're my target." I said as I revealed my knife. Before she had a chance to react I ran, and lunged at her with my knife. Stabbing her neck. She was a pretty nice lady so I want to give her a short painless death. I stabbed her neck a couple times pretty deep before letting her fall to the ground. I cut open her stomach, and grab the book. I noticed a purse to the right of me. Must have been hers. It's a pretty big one so I decided to grab it, and I opened the cash register. I threw the unneeded stuff down to the ground. I saw, and picked up a lighter from the purse. This gave me an Idea, But I wasn't going to implement it just yet.

After I was done emptying the purse I opened the cash register, and put as much money as I could into it as well as the stomach book. After that I told Cat what I was going to do. She agreed with my plan, and waited fro me outside. I lit the lighter, and lit on fire many places around the bar, including the security cameras. After that I opened the door, and stepped one foot outside. I threw the lighter into all the bottles of alcohol. Then I grabbed Cat, and ran as fast as I could.

It's a pretty rural area in this part of the city, and at this time at night nobody should have saw me. I ran a few miles along some dark alleyways, and eventually found a really big park I could hide in for the night. I went into the really dense part of the park full of tall sturdy trees. I found that one of the trees had pretty big sized hole under it where both I, Cat, and the purse could fit into.

We crawled into it, and tried to get some sleep. It was going to be a big day tomorrow.


	4. Chapter 4

When I woke up I felt very stiff from the cramped position that I was sleeping in. I got up from under the tree, and I noticed that it was fairly early in the morning judging by the lovely hue of the sunrising sky. I grab the purse and Cat and moved them from the hole and into the light. I did it gently though because Cat was still sleeping.

I went into the purse, and grabbed the stomach book from it. I stared at it and thought about the events that happened from the night before. 'I killed two people yesterday didn't I? It wasn't just a dream was it.' It...it was a reality I had to face. I sighed. Well it's not like I can turn back now, now can I?

I decided to read the book to both calm my nerves a bit, and to pass the time.

Cat woke up around the time I was at the middle part of the book. "Good Morning Ritsuko." Cat said while she stretched a bit. "...Morning….Cat." I managed to reply back while still being immersed in the book.

"Thanks for replying to me for once." Cat snipped passive aggressively. "...Whatevs Cat. Just let me read for a bit."

"Fine. We might as well use this time as a small respite for things to come. I doubt we'll really get another chance rest like this." After Cat said this she walked right over to me and snuggled against me.

"That's…..somewhat out of character for you to do." Cat then pawed at my face for a bit.

"Hey! It's not like I'm made of stone here. Don't you have a book to read?". "Oh yeah, right.".

After I was done with the oh so amazing book I putted it back under the tree, that should be a good safe spot for now, then I stood up. I looked around a bit deciding where I should go next. It's not like we can stay here forever. "Hey Cat. Where's our next target?"

"Now, now, my dear need to be rude. How about next time you ask nicely 'kay, lil' ko? He's just at the other side of the park, near the river to be exact.". "Fine. Just don't call me that. It sounds I'm a twelve year old."

I carried the bag, and picked up my knife from the tree hole. Cat jumped onto my shoulders as always, but now she made herself comfortable by laying down on my neck. It's kinda uncomfortable, but I can deal with it.

We traveled to the east side of the park, and at the very edge of it was a steep drop to a river bed. I saw that a figure was huddled against another wall aside the riverbed. My eyes widened. It's him. He's obviously homeless now so nobody would probably miss him.

I jumped down into the river bed, and waded through the river to the other side. Cat jumped off me, and I hide my knife behind my back. "Hey! You there! Are you okay?" I exclaimed.

The homeless guy responded with an "I'm okay." as he got up from his huddle. "Wait, aren't you...?" He asked.

"That's not important for the time being. What's important is your well being." I replied convincingly. "No, no I'm fine Lil' ko. Just. Fine."

My eyes narrowed. "Oh. Alrighty then, if you say so. I do have one question for you. Do you happen to have a neon blue tattoo on you perhaps?". "Yeah actually. How did ya know?". "Lucky guess." I giggled. I moved closer to him.

"You know...nobody's around in this area. It's just the two of us, alone." I said suggestively. I'm now only about a foot away from him. "Oh yeah. I uh just noticed that.". "Would you like to do something….fun?". "L-like what?". I went even closer and whispered into his ear "Like death." I then suddenly stabbed him into his abdomen.

He gasped for air as I let him fall to the ground. I tossed my purse a couple feet away from me. I didn't want it to get dirty. I then straddled him in a provocative way. "You like this don't you?" I said as I stabbed him again right next to his heart. I want to give him a chance to respond.

"...N-no...w-w-why…..?" he managed to muster. "Because…." I leaned closer to him. "You're my target….Kanji-kun." I then stabbed him in the neck four times, and in the heart four times as well, satisfied with what I got. I got off of him, and cut open his stomach.

I grabbed the new stomach book, and stood up. "What was that about?" Cat inquired. I sighed. "It's a long story that I'd rather not get into at the moment.". I wiped my face and looked up. I saw a boy that looked a couple years older than me. He was watching me intently, he even had a smile on his face. He had bright white hair and sparkling blue eyes. And he said.

"If words could kill, now wouldn't that be wonderful?"


	5. Chapter 5

I went to where he was and asked "Why aren't you running away?".

He Laughed. "Because you're not going to kill me."

"And why is that? Just because you're a famous author doesn't mean I don't have the guts to keep you quiet." I said as I pointed my knife towards him. "Because I don't have the tattoo." I accidentally dropped my knife in shock. How could he know? Cat squinted her eyes at him.

"Now, how about we have a chat Miss. Aki?"

I picked up my knife and we moved to sit on the ground. Cat jumped on to his lap. "So, um, how do you know about the tattoos?" I asked him. "Well, you see Miss. Aki I happen to be the one who put those books in people."

"What? How?"

"I have my ways, isn't that right Cat?" He looked down towards her. "You two know each other?"

Cat sighed. "Yes, we happened to meet once or twice. For, business."

"So why did you put the books into people, and why do you know my name?" I inquired. "Well well, aren't you asking questions today?"

I blushed. "I bored of being read by the masses." The boy muttered sadly. "I don't want just anyone to read my books."

"I, I see…." I replied while petting Cat. "In order for you to read my works, I would not frown on a few murders in the process."

My eyes brightened. "O-okay Mr. Nanajyo."

He smiled. "Please, call me Setsuri."

I blushed again, even more than before. "W-well, in that case. You can just call me Ritsuko."

"Haha, very well."

I stood up, and said "Well, I'd better be going now. It's not very safe to stay in one place for long."

"You're right. Let's keep in touch though." He said. "How can we do that? I don't wanna attract suspicion towards you."

"That's quite simple. Cat here can let us stay in touch telepathically."

"Oh…..Okay then, sure!" Cat jumped off Setsuri's lap and walked next to me. "Let's go." She said coldly. "Well, see you later setsuri."

"See you, and remember. I want a reader who's nothing but the best."


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey Ritsuko! We're here." Cat shouted at me. I was read the newest Stomach Book while we were walking to the next target. "Isn't that my high school?" I said as I closed my book, I finished it about ten minutes ago in fact. I just wanted to re-read it. "That's right. Your target is a student here. She should be in her after school club right now so it should be a little bit easier to kill her without being caught by anyone."

"Who is she?" I inquired. "Inori Watanabe."

"H-her?" I questioned. "Is she a friend of yours?"

"Um, yeah she is. We share most of the same classrooms…" Inori was a sweet person. The type who couldn't hurt a fly. 'Why her of all people?' I thought. "I hope you're not having second thoughts Ritsuko." Cat said with a sharp edge to her voice. "N-no, of course not. I'm…..I'm sure her stomach book will be even better than the last."

"Good. I'm sure it will. Now let's go shall we?"

"Yeah." I said as I put the book I was holding down under a bush, making a note to come back for it later. We then walked into the school, not worrying about the blood stains on my clothes due to the fact that everyone should doing club related activities and not wandering around. We walk to right outside the entrance to the underground pool since Inori is on the swim team.

We then hid in a storage room nearby and waited for the club activities to be over. 'I can't believe I'm actually going to be killing one of my friends, and one of my only ones at that. But it's something I have to do right? To be a reader who's nothing but the best...'

Suddenly the door to the pool opened and a petite black haired girl in a swimsuit ran out. 'It's Inori!' I thought. She must've forgotten something again. Classic Inori. I sighed. 'It's now or never.'

I carefully walked out of the room, hid the knife behind my back, and called out to her. "Hey Inori!" Inori turned around to face me. "Ritsuko? I haven't seen you in awhile, and more importantly why are you all bloody?" Inori asked. "Oh, one of the drama club members spilled a bunch of fake blood on me on accident."

"That sucks Ritsuko."

"Yeah, but I did get this pretty cool spare prop from them as an apology gift." I said as I revealed the knife I had. "Wow, they real are going all out with this horror play they're working on. Anyways you should probably get yourself cleaned up."

"Yeah, to be honest with you I was hoping to sneak into the locker room showers to get cleaned up while you guys were practicing."

"That's smart, and I have an extra uniform you can borrow if you want?" Inori offered. "Really? Thank you I appreciate it."

"No problem! I needed to go by the locker room anyways. By the way, what's with the cat?" she said, pointing at said animal. "Oh that? I'm not sure. It's been following me around all day. I don't mind though. It's not causing too much trouble."

"Oh okay then. I guess you get to tag along with us isn't that right cutie kitty?" Inori said as she picked up Cat. I chuckled a bit, which Cat replied with a extremely annoyed glare towards me. We then walked to the locker room. Once inside Cat freed herself from Inori's grasp. "So why did you needed to stop by here?" I asked as I discreetly locked the locker room door. I didn't have to worry about any security cameras. It's an incredibly old high school. "I forgot my swimming goggles in my locker."

"Again? That's like the fourth time this month." I said with a laugh. "Yeah I know."

"So uh," I walked a bit closer to her. "did you happen to get any tattoos lately?"

"Why? So you could kill me with that big knife of yours?" I froze for a few seconds and gulped. "Uh, no. W-why would you say that?"

"Because of the killer that's been on the news of course!"

"Oh." I relaxed a bit. "Yeah, I've heard about that. I wonder who he is." I said. "I don't know, but I sure don't wanna find out. The way he or I guess possibly she kills is so gruesome don't you think? Like who would cut open people's stomachs?" Inori said while she searches her stuff for her goggles.

"Yeah...who would."

"Anyways to answer your question, yes did get one recently. A neon blue tattoo on my right foot." she said as she pulled out her goggles. "Found 'em! Well, I guess I'll leave you to your shower Ritsuko. It was fun talking to you!"

'Now or never Ritsuko...now or never.' I tightened my grip on the knife. "Yeah….it was fun. A-and thanks for being my friend….Inori."

"Why ar-" before she could finish her reply I stabbed her hard in the neck. She immediately dropped to the ground. Inori tries to speak but only bloody gurgles are heard. I fight back the tears that my body wants to release. 'It's something I have to do. To read the most amazing books.' I thought. I stab her three more times in the neck and made sure she was dead.

After that I made an incision into the stomach. Once I cutted the stomach completely open I took out the stomach book and laid it down besides Cat. I then dragged her body into one of the showers and turned it on the hottest setting. Making the smell of blood and death less obvious and making it hard to see because of the steam.

"Good job Ritsuko. You're surprisingly getting better at this." Cat said. "Thanks. Let's just go."

"Wait just a second. Before we go, you need a change of clothes."

"And why would that be Cat?" I snipped at her. She sighed. "Because you won't want to be wearing a blood stained uniform when we're going after our next target."

"...Fine." I then rummaged through Inori's stuff until I found the spare uniform. After which I changed into. "So what makes our next target so special anyways?" I asked.

"_Because he's going to be at the charity event tomorrow night, so you will need to look as best as you can be." _Setsuri suddenly chimed in via telepathy.

"Oh! Uh alright S-setsuri. If you say so." I said as I grabbed the Stomach Book and Cat along with the knife. "_Good. I'll share more details tomorrow morning. I hope you have a nice night Ritsuko."_

"T-thanks. You too." I said as I left the locker room. All but forgetting about one of my only friends dead corpse, left to rot in the shower.


End file.
